The prior art is of course already aware of many examples of various types of vehicle hood and latch arrangements whereby the hood can be pivoted up and down from either a rearward or a forward pivoted position on the chassis. Those skilled in the art are aware of those prior art arrangements, and no specific disclosure thereof is deemed necessary in this document. One general showing of a tractor having an engine and a hood which could be pivoted up and down at its forward location is seen in U.S. Pat. No. 3,448,820. Thus, persons skilled in the art, are aware of the arrangements of pivotally mounted tractor hoods which can be pivoted at the front of the vehicle and which are latched at the rear of the hood, and U.S. Pat. No. 3,064,748 shows that specific arrangement.
The present invention relates to a forwardly pivoted vehicle hood with a spring-urged latch means having a camming effect and having a cushion member which supports the hood in the downward position and also having a release which can be actuated from either side of the vehicle. As such, the assembly of the vehicle and the hood and the latching means is an improvement over the arrangements and assemblies heretofore known, and the assembly of the present invention provides for a secure and readily releasable control of the pivotal hood, and it also allows for misalignment of the hood relative to the vehicle chassis but yet assures the secured latched position of the hood.
Still further, the present invention provides a self-locking type of latch having a camming effect which provides for forcing downwardly on the hood to secure it in the down position, under the influence of a spring acting on the cam-type latch member, and there is a resilient abutment which supports the hood upwardly and thus the hood is secured between the spring-loaded cam latch and the resilient abutment, all for providing for securing the hood in the down position and yet cushioning it in that position and having the secured position automatically achieved under the weight of the hood itself. Further, the latch assembly is actually in pairs, with an abutment post and a latch on each side of the vehicle, and there is one single release member which has a handle on each side of the vehicle so that the release can be maneuvered from each side of the vehicle and thus release both of the latches from either side of the vehicle. Still further, there can be misalignment between the hood and the vehicle chassis in both the transverse and longitudinal directions of the vehicle, but yet the hood is readily and securely held in the down position and is readily and easily released.
Other objects and advantages have become apparent upon reading the following description in light of the accompanying drawings.